In his last speech (download available here) made to a Canadian audience, Jaswant Singh Khalra discusses his investigations into the thousands of illegal killings and secret cremations by the Punjab police and his readiness to die to expose the truth about these crimes. Jaswant Singh Khalra begins his speech with a moving fable about the struggle of truth and light against expanding darkness. He recounts how he traced the fate of many disappeared Sikhs to Amritsar’s municipal cremation grounds. Through government records obtained from these municipalities, Khalra exposed a detailed history of systematic human rights violations in which security forces abducted, murdered, and secretly cremated an estimated 6,017 Sikhs in Amritsar district alone–then one of 13 districts in Punjab–from 1984 to 1995. (Apr. 1995)
Further Resources:
- Khalra Advocacy Page
- Analysis of case in Ensaaf/Human Rights Watch report, Protecting the Killers: A Policy of Impunity in Punjab, India (Oct. 2007)
- Biography of Khalra: Chapter 1 of Reduced to Ashes: The Insurgency and Human Rights in Punjab (pdf) (May 2003)
- Case filed against KPS Gill for Role in Crimes against Khalra, Ensaaf (Sep. 2006)
- Khalra Criminal Case: High Court Upholds Convictions of Five Police Officers & Awards Life Sentences, Ensaaf (Oct. 2007)
- Joint Letter to Director, Central Bureau of Investigation, calling for prosecution of KPS Gill for Khalra’s Murder, Ensaaf, HRW, Redress, CHRGJ (May 2006)
